‘Their story must be preserved’: Memorial in Summerville honoring the deaths of 4 Allied airmen
A memorial will be unveiled Sunday in Summerville, NS, to commemorate the deaths of four Allied airmen who died 80 years ago today when their plane crashed in the West Hants area while on a training mission.
The airmen – two New Zealanders, a Canadian and an Australian – were stationed at Pennfield Ridge in New Brunswick as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The program provided training for airmen from Commonwealth countries during World War II.
“We have to recognize what these young people have done,” said Gary Nelson, vice president of the West Hants Historical Society.
“Three of the four came from half the world and the other guy came from half a continent away to train to keep our freedom and our way of life in 1943. And then, really through no fault of their own, they got involved in this crash and their story must be preserved.”
The airmen who died were:
- P/O John C. Loucks, Air Gunner, Bracebridge, Ont.
- P/O George W. Cowie, Pilot, Wellington, New Zealand.
- P/O Clifford A. Griffiths, navigator, Auckland, New Zealand.
- Sergeant Arthur Cornelius Mulcahy, Wireless Air Gunner, Sydney, Australia.
Sunday’s ceremony will take place at 2pm AT at the Musgrove Road Cemetery, within sight of where the crash happened.
Jack Loucks from Ottawa will visit Nova Scotia for the ceremony. His father’s first cousin was the Canadian who died in the crash.
Loucks said his relative enjoyed playing hockey and basketball and building model airplanes. He enlisted in 1942 at the age of 18 and was stationed at Pennfield Ridge for about a month.
“His second time up [in a Ventura] was that fateful flight on the 25th,” Loucks said.
He has been researching to learn more about his relative’s life, but not much is known even within the family. Loucks said a family member helped put that into perspective.
“She said, ‘Jack, in the 1930s during the Depression, everyone was just worried about putting food on the table, let alone luxury travel and visiting relatives, right? And the families were scattered all over Ontario,'” she said. Locks..
Why the plane crashed
The Ventura AJ186 was one of five Ventura aircraft to participate in a training exercise.
After leaving Pennfield Ridge, the route went to Smiths Cove, NS, Falmouth, NS, Sackville, NB, Sussex, NB, Saint John and then back to base.
While flying over the River Avon at Falmouth, the AJ186 developed engine problems.
“As it turned inland, it started to lose altitude quite quickly,” Nelson said.
“It flew over a forest of pine trees, hit the top of one of the tallest pine trees, took the top off and somersaulted and crashed into what was then known as Musgrove Road.”
The road is now called Musgrave Road because of an error, but the cemetery has the historically correct name, Nelson said.
June 25 was the last day of school and some children in Summerville saw the accident on their way home.
“Above where the crash had just occurred, red fire and black smoke rose in a swelling cloud,” local historian Edith Mosher wrote of the incident in her book, Family book with facts and fiction.
“On seeing and hearing that terrible explosion that echoed among the trees, people came out of the house along the main road of the village, piled into cars, ran on foot, all rashly, like me, towards that flaming scene.”
Cause still unknown
It’s unclear what caused the crash, but an accident report offered a possible explanation.
“The engine … may have failed due to lack of fuel, as there was a history of inoperable fuel pumps,” it said.
The bodies of the Australian and New Zealand airmen are buried in two cemeteries in Windsor, NS, while Loucks is buried in his hometown.
Nelson said work on the memorial started last summer because there was nothing in the community to draw attention to the crash. The memorial will contain information and will include the names of the airmen who died.
